Meet James Junk | aka Andrei Dominiq, Graphic Designer + Creator of James Junk

We had the good fortune of connecting with James Junk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi James, what matters most to you?
Fun! It’s a small word that holds such a big meaning. I don’t hold myself to a lot of standards, or lead my life with overly expansive criteria, but a non-negotiable I do have is fun. If I’m not having fun, I don’t do it. Not unlike most of the world, I am indoctrinated with the people-pleaser DNA, and it has taken a lot of work on my part to learn that “no” is a perfectly good answer. I’ve put myself in a lot of situations and worked with a lot of folks that, retrospectively, I should have never been in or worked with, and I treat them today as reminders to myself that life is too fleeting, too fickle to spend any measure of your time not having fun. And while I understand this may seem naive and shortsighted to some, I also understand that I can only truly live for myself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work is rooted in self-. I leave the second part of that word open because it evolves each day; some days, it’s self-development or self-openness, and others it’s self-accountability or all of the above. Another thing it is rooted in is the beyond the self. I care a lot about a lot of things, and one look through my digital outlets (specifically Instagram), that fact becomes apparent. I believe this is my edge as a creative—I am neither this nor that. Rather, I am this AND that. Have I always been this way? No. In my beginnings as a designer, I thought it the norm to niche down and pigeonhole myself into a type as soon as I caught a whiff of a remote inclination towards one style of design rather than another. This resulted in a lot of grief and questioning. Self-doubt and frustration.

Do I view that as a waste of time, energy, effort? Not on an ordinary day. I believe that everything that happens to me, happens for me. This perspective is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned thus far; I didn’t get that gig because it wouldn’t fulfill me as much as my current job does; that commission fell through without having started work on it and thank god it did because I would subsequently hear that the client was a flake with invoices; Chick-Fil-A didn’t have Chick-Fil-A Sauce for me that day, the only sauce that I consume, but now I’m glad they didn’t because I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Polynesian Sauce, decidedly the best sauce out of their lineup. You get the gist. You get the idea. When adversity strikes, I interpret it as a signal that something better is on its way.

And isn’t that the essence of it all? Forward is the only direction worth looking towards. The world is so big it can dwarf us, but so small it can fit between our fingers.

At the end of the day, I want the world to know that it’s okay not to end up where you set out to get. Progress is not a linear process, and neither is getting from points A to B. Sometimes, it takes a few detours for your eyes to see where you’re really supposed to be.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The first place I’d take my best friend to is Super Domestic Coffee, who makes the best oat matcha latte I’ve ever had the opportunity of tasting. After, we’ll hit up Village Well down the street and scheme through the books to add another to our pile of unopened reads at home. The sun will be shining on this perfect day, so we’re gonna spend some time people-watching on the Culver Steps as live music plays and the vitamin D hits our faces. In the evening we’ll go to Gracias Madre for mezcal and coconut ceviche, then hop over to the Roger Room if we wanna go somewhere lax or Little Friend if we need drowning noise. The next day I’ll drag them to the Eames House because I’ve always wanted to go but never could carve out the time, and then go to Great White for a latte and a chocolate pastry. We’ll go to Roosterfish for a mediocre comedy show that’ll have us in stitches anyway because we believe in positive reinforcement, and down the avenue Med Men will beckon and we’re gonna leave with some edibles in tow. That is the night we get chicken nuggets and fries delivered as we descend into madness with a Real Housewives rerun playing on the TV, and it will have been a perfect night. On the third day, we’ll go to my hometown and hit up El Burrito’s Jr., eat it while getting a tan on the strand in Hermosa Beach, and get post-beach drinks at Riviera Village, then get Pedone’s Pizza for the best white pizza on this hemisphere. The morning after, we’ll walk down Melrose and go into VIE HEALING for some cosmetic acupuncture to keep everything balanced, then got to the flea market if it’s a Sunday. Get some food at Badsmaash on Fairfax, take a nap, get a drink at The Dime and end off at Spartina for some really good pasta.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I didn’t grow up with too many artistic influences, but I am surrounded, crowded, inundated by them now. My friend Matthew Miller (@bymatthewmiller IG), graphic designer and creative director, has the most creative mind I’ve ever come across, and his unapologetic style is unwaveringly inspirational to me. He is someone I admire as a person and a creative alike, and his creations, focusing on climate action and BIPOC equity, feeds the eyes, from one poster to the next.

Website: www.jamesjunk.co

Instagram: instagram.com/jamesjunk.co

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreidominiq/

Twitter: twitter.com/andreidominiq

Youtube: youtube.com/@jamesjunkco

Other: chaos theory, my per-month newsletter. www.jamesjunk.substack.com

Image Credits
All credits go to James Junk, 2022-2023.